It's All About Timing
by Totidem Verbis
Summary: "This is the part where you say sorry for staring." The sentence should have been teasing, but Yusuke's tone was even. Like he was in a state of shock.


**Author's Note:** This is just a short little thing written for a friend based on a dialogue prompt. I hope you like it, **SakiHanajima1**!

* * *

"Oh, shoot!" Botan whispered under her breath as she looked down at her blouse. The light pink material was turning sheer over her chest, where she'd just spilled her drink, and she groaned a little as she pinched the now wet fabric and held it away from her skin. Now she was going to have to go change! She eyed the tray of sandwiches on the counter but then just shrugged. The others could wait a few extra minutes before getting their lunch.

Botan hummed quietly to herself as she walked through Genkai's temple, and she was amazed that it had remained unchanged over the years. Nearly fifty years had passed since Botan first stepped inside of Genkai's temple, but sometimes it felt like Botan would turn the corner and see Genkai glaring up at her for being too loud. Even after the psychic passed, Yukina remained at the temple and kept it in pristine condition. Botan had so many memories in this temple.

Like watching Yukina and Kuwabara get married in one of the back gardens. That had been a beautiful ceremony, and Botan wasn't the only one who had cried! Botan had also been visiting when Hiei finally told Yukina that he was her brother, so she'd been the only one to see Hiei's shocked face when Yukina calmly told him that she already knew. She'd laughed and Hiei had threatened to kill her, but Yukina had just smiled serenely and then hugged her brother for the first time. This temple was where they all came together, when they all had the chance, to talk about their lives.

After marrying Yukina, Kuwabara's energy combined with hers and slowed his aging. He'll live the long life of a demon, and Botan was happy that she wouldn't have to say goodbye to a friend. A few years after Kuwabara and Yukina got married, Shizuru asked Koenma to become a Pilot of the River Styx. She wanted to live, in at least some kind of way, for as long as her brother did. Shizuru took to being a Pilot with ease, and she was Koenma's right-hand now. Which was why Botan had so much free time and had her own room at Genkai's temple. Because the temple was more like her real home now.

She did a little twirl as she walked into her room, a room that she didn't have to share with anyone else like she had to in Spirit World, and she slowly made her way over to her closet. She pulled out another shirt, one with short sleeves since the day was quite warm, and danced back out into her room. Her clean shirt got placed on the bed, and she continued to dance around her room as she carefully pulled off her wet stained blouse.

Not all of her memories of the temple were good ones. Like how she'd come to visit once and found Yusuke sitting on the temple steps with a blank look on his face, after he and Keiko decided to stop being together. Atsuko had passed away only a year before that, Genkai only a few months before that, and Yusuke had looked so lost when he first moved into the temple. For Botan, it was even worse than seeing Yusuke's ghost. At least Yusuke's ghost had still tried to fight. Yusuke had slowly started to become himself again though, and that was decades ago. Now her friend spent his time split between the temple and his palace in Demon World, so the only real full-time occupants were Yukina and Kuwabara.

Botan giggled a little as she tossed her shirt across the room and watched it land in a clothes basket, because Yukina and Kuwabara wouldn't be alone for long. Everyone was at the temple today, celebrating, because Koenma had been officially promoted to Ruler of Spirit World! His first order had been to tell Botan to go on a vacation, and Kuwabara and Yukina had graciously allowed Botan to stay at the temple with them. The temple was a sort of crossover point for demons who wanted to integrate into the Human World, so Botan was going to use her vacation to help the demons crossing over. Koenma had told her that her vacation could last for as long as she wanted, for _years_ even, and she was giddy at the thought of helping others. She loved her job as a Pilot, but it'd be nice to spend her time with living beings and not just spirits.

"Yo, Botan! You okay?!" She could hear Yusuke's loud voice echoing around the temple, and she reached up to tighten her ponytail. He and the others were probably wondering where she was with their sandwiches. They couldn't celebrate Koenma's promotion without sandwiches!

"I'm fine! Be right out!" she called back. She propped her hands on her hips, so that her palms just barely grazed the tops of her jeans, and looked down at the yellow shirt she'd picked out. It was a nice shirt, but it was a little plain. Shouldn't she dress up for the celebration?

She was still debating when she heard her bedroom door opening, and she looked up with wide eyes. Her body was turned towards the door, because she'd started to take a step towards her closet, and equally wide eyes quickly swept over her. She felt her face heating up as those eyes looked at her bare torso, except for the lacy pink bra she was wearing, and she had a feeling that her whole face was red when he finally met her eyes.

"Shit! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—I, um, should've knocked. Um, I-I'll just go," Yusuke stuttered out. Botan had never heard him sound so nervous before, and his face looked just as red as hers felt. Then his eyes swept over her bared skin again.

"Yusuke?" she asked after a moment. His eyes moved back to look into hers, and she watched as he slowly licked his lips.

"Hmm?" he asked distractedly.

"You're still standing there," she pointed out. He had one hand gripping the door, and he hadn't made any move to step back and close the door. He was just standing there, staring at her.

"I keep telling myself to leave, but my feet won't move," he said in a confused tone. His eyes swept over her again, and Botan let out a quiet squeaking sound before finally raising her arms to cover herself.

"Would you stop doing that?!" she yelled. She wished she had something within reach to throw at him, but there was nothing within grabbing range.

"I'm sorry! It's just-did you know your blush goes all the way down to your chest?" Botan looked down at where she had her arms crossed over her chest, and she could see that the tops of her breasts were flushed a light pink color. Her face and neck felt hot as well, so it looked like she really was blushing all over.

"Yusuke!" He clapped a hand over his eyes but still didn't make a move to leave the room, and Botan stalked forward. Yusuke dropped his hand and opened his eyes right as she reached him, but she'd already come too far to back off now. "Out! Now!"

She started pushing at his chest, ignored how firm he felt, and looked into his wide eyes as she pushed him backwards. Once he was pushed out into the hallway, she slammed her door shut and then pressed her forehead tight against the wood. She heard Yusuke call out one last apology before his footsteps hurried away, and Botan groaned a little as she slumped against her door. That had been…awkward. There was no time to dwell on it though! She was going to put on a clean shirt and then go back outside to celebrate Koenma's promotion.

 **.xXx.**

"I've got it, Yukina. Go get some rest," Botan said with a gentle smile. Yukina thanked her and then said a quiet goodnight, and Botan hummed to herself as she finished up with the dishes.

The celebration had ended at a good time, and nearly everyone was gone now. A few people were staying in the temple tonight, but they'd all gone to their usual rooms. Yukina and Botan had stayed up to wash the dishes instead of leaving them overnight, but Botan could handle putting them up on her own. By the time she was done in the kitchen, the temple was dark and quiet. She was still smiling and humming as she walked down the hallway to her room, but she froze as another body came around the corner at the other end of the hallway. Widened eyes met hers, and Botan quickly looked down and away.

Which was a mistake. Yusuke had clearly just come from the shower, because he was only wearing a pair of loose shorts and had a towel draped over his neck. His upper body was bare, and he looked barely touched by time. He was a little taller than when she had first met him and his body was a bit more muscular, after decades of hard training, but his eyes were the same. Wide and dark brown, like chocolate. He was still staring at her when she drug her eyes away the little bit of water still clinging to his abs, and she realized that she was lightly biting her bottom lip.

"This is the part where you say sorry for staring." The sentence should have been teasing, but Yusuke's tone was even. Like he was in a state of shock.

"I'm not sorry for staring though." Botan's tone mirrored his, and she felt a little dizzy. Maybe she was going into shock too?

"Then I'm not going to be sorry for this," Yusuke said and started walking forward again. Before Botan could ask him what he was talking about, he'd grabbed her shoulders and started pushing her back.

Oh, right. His room was just behind her, and the door opened when her back was pushed against it. Light flooded the room as she was pushed farther inside, but she didn't get a chance to really look around before she was spinning. Yusuke turned her so that her back was against the door, closing it soundly, and her head fell back so that she could meet Yusuke's eyes. She wanted to ask who he thought he was, manhandling her like that, but she never got the chance. Strong hands moved from her shoulders and up to gently cup her face, and Botan's eyes closed as lips pressed softly against hers.

The kiss started off light but quickly turned into something deeper, and Botan knocked off the towel around Yusuke's shoulders as her arms wrapped around his neck. One of her hands reached up to grip the back of his hair, which was still damp but clean of any kind of gel, and she sighed as Yusuke's tongue moved against hers. She could feel the heat of him all along the front of her body as he pressed her harder against the door, but his hands were still gentle on her face. Botan could have stayed like that for hours, but they both eventually had to pull back to breathe. Yusuke pecked her lips, twice, and then pressed his forehead against hers as they both tried to get their breathing regulated.

"Why didn't we do this sooner?" Yusuke asked. Every word caused his lips to brush against hers, and Botan rocked up onto her toes as she tightened her arms around him. She'd had a crush on Yusuke for a while, years even, but she never thought it was reciprocated! She always just assumed that he thought of her as a friend, but it was clear to her now that his feelings were the same as hers. She could see it in his eyes, because they were so close that he couldn't hide anything from her now.

"Because it was never the right time." Botan paused to smile and couldn't resist leaning up to nip at Yusuke's bottom lip before continuing, "And now it is."

* * *

 **Ending Note:** Thank you for reading!


End file.
